Talkfreethought refugee

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:52 am

Hello

I've been active on the Talkfreethought forum since it was Internet Infidels. Since it's future is in question and I enjoy talking with other secularists I thought I'd join this gang.

I'm a Swedish IT guy living in Denmark and working for a company called Dong Energy. Yes really. That's what it's called.

I belong to the group of people who was so shielded from religion growing up that I had no idea what it meant in practice to be religious that I really didn't know anything about it well into becoming an adult. So I can tell you what happens when people like that hear about god theories. Well.. one person like that. I thought it was a preposterous array of hypothesis. That fascinated me. So I started studying religion. Not so much because I wanted to learn about god. But I wanted to learn about god's appeal. I just didn't get it. It's been 25 years now, and I'm none the wiser.

My conclusion is that humans aren't rational and rarely have an interest in being rational. My best evidence against creationism is the theory of creationism itself. Only an idiot or gullible fool would come up with that theory, or support it. Which means that if God created us to be intelligent and rational he/she/it/them failed miserably. The only reason a god could have for making us on purpose stupid would be to cover up the fact that it doesn't exist. Logic!

justme · Post by **justme** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:04 am

Or allowing us to see our falts as a common issue that we can work together on. Humanity is not a collection of flaws but a connection of possibilities. A collaboration to find betterment in ourselfs and others.

Sey · Post by **Sey** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:11 pm

Jumped ship, eh?
Welcome to the cafe.

Yes, I can see how religion would be baffling to someone not raised in it, but to those who incorporated its tenets and attitudes as children with no critical thinking skills or logical firewalls, it seems to get incorporated into their operating systems

Shake · Post by **Shake** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:48 pm

Welcome, Doc! That's an interesting story. While I know others who were raised without religion, it's still nice to hear the perspective of such folks. You're like a living example of the idea behind John Loftus' outsider test of faith. Anyway, hope you enjoy it here.

Politesse · Post by **Politesse** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:48 pm

Hi there DrZoidberg! You aren't alone, there seem to be an increasingly large number of young folks being brought up without religious sensibilities.

Old Woman in Purple · Post by **Old Woman in Purple** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:57 pm

Welcome to the SC neighborhood, DrZ!

I was at II early on; took a meandering route, ending up here back in 2011 & have been haunting the halls ever since.

I find it to be a comfortable place with a good mix of personalities (mostly sensible).

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:23 pm

Hi and welcome, Dr. Z. I think I've interacted with you a few times at TF.

No definite plans have been made, but we may try some sort of merger with TF in the next year or so. This board has been getting less active for some while, and when DMB, one of our founders and the most active poster died a few months ago, things have been gettin' mighty quiet. Hopefully we can do something to keep at least some semblance of the old II going.

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:18 am

Hello there! Some old-time II folks are around here. Hope you like the place!

Rob

lpetrich · Post by **lpetrich** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 5:36 am

DONG Energy

DONG Energy (formerly Dansk Naturgas and Dansk Olie og Naturgas, abbreviated DONG) is a power company based in Fredericia, Denmark. It is the largest energy company in Denmark. The company has announced the plan to change its name to Ørsted.

This is after (Wikipedia)

Hans Christian Ørsted (or Oersted, 1777 - 1852). He discovered that electric currents make magnetic fields that go in loops around the currents.

The acronym also works in English: Danish Oil and Natural Gas

Aupmanyav · Post by **Aupmanyav** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:43 am

Welcome to SecCafe, Dr. Zoidberg. I remember you from Internet Infidels, though have not interacted often with you. I was at IIDB and left Talkfreethought after its last reorganization.

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 8:23 am

[quote=""Aupmanyav""]Welcome to SecCafe, Dr. Zoidberg. I remember you from Internet Infidels, though have not interacted often with you. I was at IIDB and left Talkfreethought after its last reorganization.[/quote]

I remember you to. You said quite a lot of things that made a big impression on me. Your comments led me to read up on, and study, Advaita. Made me appreciate Hindu philosophy more.

Which ended up being very valuable to me. I was put in charge of a large Indian team a while back. Something they resented since I replaced an Indian boss. Even if it wasn't, it all came across as a bit racist. Knowledge of and respect for Hinduism won them over. Much thanks to you.

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 8:29 am

[quote=""Shake""]Welcome, Doc! That's an interesting story. While I know others who were raised without religion, it's still nice to hear the perspective of such folks. You're like a living example of the idea behind John Loftus' outsider test of faith. Anyway, hope you enjoy it here.[/quote]

Just the need for faith itself should be enough IMHO. Requiring a leap of faith to believe, I think, is admitting that there's no good reason to believe. Believing is seeing. We know that from modern psychology studies.

I'm not any long fascinated by why people believe. I think I get it now. I'm just not particularly impressed.

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 8:31 am

[quote=""Politesse""]Hi there DrZoidberg! You aren't alone, there seem to be an increasingly large number of young folks being brought up without religious sensibilities.[/quote]

I'm from Sweden. Christianity pretty much died in the 1950'ies. So there's been a couple of generations now without religion

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 8:50 am

[quote=""Jobar""]Hi and welcome, Dr. Z. I think I've interacted with you a few times at TF.

No definite plans have been made, but we may try some sort of merger with TF in the next year or so. This board has been getting less active for some while, and when DMB, one of our founders and the most active poster died a few months ago, things have been gettin' mighty quiet. Hopefully we can do something to keep at least some semblance of the old II going.[/quote]

Hurry up. At the end of the month, unless somebody takes it over Talkfreethought is gone. If you move now, think Secular café can have it for free without a fight.

One request though, the name! Talkfreethought is an awful name. Secular cafe isn't much better. One thing religious people have going for them, the understand human psychology, appeal to people's emotions and passions. Just because we're atheists/rationalists doesn't mean we also have to be boring. Internet Infidels was a great name. Something like that!

Fun with Blasphemy
Satan's Scientists
Better living through atheism
God's rejects
Thanks God for not existing

something fun, please

Politesse · Post by **Politesse** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 2:55 pm

I would agree with a name change, I've long thought that "Secular Cafe" is a bit deceptive. DrZoidberg's suggestions better represent the character and composition of the forum.

Copernicus · Post by **Copernicus** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:13 pm

Welcome to SC, DrZoidberg! That was an interesting perspective you posted in the Sputnik I thread. Hope you have fun here.

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:40 am

[quote=""Copernicus""]Welcome to SC, DrZoidberg! That was an interesting perspective you posted in the Sputnik I thread. Hope you have fun here.[/quote]

That is my singular objective on this forum... to be interesting. Well... that and learn about religion/spirituality.

Shake · Post by **Shake** » Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:48 pm

[quote=""Mediancat""]Hello there! Some old-time II folks are around here. Hope you like the place!

Rob[/quote]

*raises hand*

One of the "old-time II folks" here!

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:09 pm

[quote=""DrZoidberg""]

Jobar;677918 wrote:Hi and welcome, Dr. Z. I think I've interacted with you a few times at TF.

No definite plans have been made, but we may try some sort of merger with TF in the next year or so. This board has been getting less active for some while, and when DMB, one of our founders and the most active poster died a few months ago, things have been gettin' mighty quiet. Hopefully we can do something to keep at least some semblance of the old II going.

Hurry up. At the end of the month, unless somebody takes it over Talkfreethought is gone. If you move now, think Secular café can have it for free without a fight.

One request though, the name! Talkfreethought is an awful name. Secular cafe isn't much better. One thing religious people have going for them, the understand human psychology, appeal to people's emotions and passions. Just because we're atheists/rationalists doesn't mean we also have to be boring. Internet Infidels was a great name. Something like that!

Fun with Blasphemy
Satan's Scientists
Better living through atheism
God's rejects
Thanks God for not existing

something fun, please[/QUOTE]

I understand that ZiprHead is going to take on the admin tasks at TF- but we still intend to discuss the hows, whens and wherefores of a possible merger, quite soon. Lpetrich, our sysadmin at SC since we began, has volunteered to take on RayJ's position there, so the two forums are already moving closer.

The main tech problem is that merging two boards running on two different versions of vB seems nigh on to impossible. And we do have to decide how we would unify our similar but separate rule sets, overall ownership, and other such practical issues. But I have hopes we can manage something.

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:17 pm

Oh, and I certainly agree that Internet Infidels was a great name, for a great board. However, it's my understanding that the owners of that name refuse to let it be used for any new discussion board, dammit.

Roo St. Gallus · Post by **Roo St. Gallus** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:04 pm

[quote=""Shake""]

Mediancat;677941 wrote:Hello there! Some old-time II folks are around here. Hope you like the place!

Rob

*raises hand*

One of the "old-time II folks" here![/QUOTE]

*raises hand*

Me, too. I left IIDB in disgust before it stopped being IIDB, back in 2004. I never partook of Talkfreethought.

DrZoidberg · Post by **DrZoidberg** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:56 pm

[quote=""Roo St. Gallus""]

Shake;678219 wrote:
Mediancat;677941 wrote:Hello there! Some old-time II folks are around here. Hope you like the place!

Rob
*raises hand*

One of the "old-time II folks" here!

*raises hand*

Me, too. I left IIDB in disgust before it stopped being IIDB, back in 2004. I never partook of Talkfreethought.[/QUOTE]

Sounds dramatic. Why disgust?

Roo St. Gallus · Post by **Roo St. Gallus** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 10:40 pm

[quote=""DrZoidberg""]

Roo St. Gallus;678257 wrote:
Shake;678219 wrote:
Mediancat;677941 wrote:Hello there! Some old-time II folks are around here. Hope you like the place!

Rob
*raises hand*

One of the "old-time II folks" here!
*raises hand*

Me, too. I left IIDB in disgust before it stopped being IIDB, back in 2004. I never partook of Talkfreethought.

Sounds dramatic. Why disgust?[/QUOTE]

Basically, a disagreement over their moderation and administration style. I was hard banned for repeatedly mouthing off. It was just a rage-quit; I suspect you've seen many. I figured that it would crash and burn, it just took a bit longer than I expected.

In retrospect, my banning then was probably best for all. I stumbled through a number of limited life host sites before spending a fair amount of time at freethought-forum and finally stumbling in here some years back.

Despite the bitching you'll hear from the likes of me, the team here a Sec Cafe is pretty decent and, at least as far as I'm concerned, there's always somebody who can be reasoned with (or raged at). Prevail is another thing entirely.

Welcome aboard.

Copernicus · Post by **Copernicus** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:22 am

Yeah, I hear you, Roo. Rage away. We're all still good, right?

Jobar · Post by **Jobar** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 3:13 pm

'Please all, please none'; we know we aren't going to run SC to the complete liking of anyone, all the time. Hell, Roo, I have as much say as anyone here, and things don't always go as *I* would prefer.

I've never expected any board I ever posted on to run perfectly. In fact, I'd bet pretty long odds that such a thing is impossible!